


And then, no more talking

by CrazyTaraWitch



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:39:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyTaraWitch/pseuds/CrazyTaraWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Regina hears a knock in the middle of the night, she doesn't expect to find Emma waiting anxiously on her porch. What she expects even less is a story about ice cream that sent the blonde running home to Storybrooke, and to Regina.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And then, no more talking

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few months ago as a writing exercise, inspired by a prompt to imagine how a character would react to seeing someone else with exactly what they want. I don't think it's particularly good, which is why I didn't post it here before, but I decided I wanted all my writing in one place so here it is.  
> Oddly, a couple of the lines actually remind me of lines from 4A, but it's pure coincidence as I don't think the season had even started yet.
> 
> For clarity, Regina's dialogue is bolded.

**“Emma! What—what are you--?”**

“Just, shut up for a second. I need to say this.

“I was supposed to be in New York all weekend, but I came back because… I was walking by a park and I saw this teenage boy, just a little older than Henry, sitting with his mom. She sort of looked like me, long blonde hair and even a leather jacket. She put her arm around the kid and he got the same face Henry does when he’s torn between wanting the affection and needing to be too old for it. But he let her keep her arm there, and it just made me think about Henry, about how he’s growing up and I’ve missed so much of his life…”

**“He’s asleep Emma. It’s late, but if you come back in the morning—“**

“No, I, I know he’s asleep; that’s not why I’m here. The thing is, I am so damn lucky to have him in my life Regina; he’s a great kid, and so much of that is down to you. I know you made a hell of a lot of mistakes, but you did right by our son.”

**“I’m not sure about tha—“**

“I am. You taught him to _love_ Regina, and to be fearless; you didn’t get it all right, but you always gave him a loving home, which was more than either of us ever had. But what happens in a few years when he’s grown, when he goes off to college or on some adventure to explore the world beyond Storybrooke, or even just gets his own apartment and doesn’t need us anymore? See, I always wanted a family, and when Henry brought me here I got it; I got him and I got my parents and it’s been more than I ever could have hoped for, but even now there’s something missing.

“That boy and his mom in the park today? They sat that way for about thirty seconds, before this woman came up with two ice cream cones and handed one to the kid. They scooted apart and before she could even sit down her wife kissed her, and the two women shared their cone side by side until the blonde got ice cream on her nose, and then her wife was licking it off and their son was acting disgusted and it… It was family Regina, it was the missing piece. That woman in the park, she had someone to go home to, someone who would still be there long after the kid was grown. I’ve been running my whole life, but I don’t want that anymore; I want a home with someone I love, I want to build a life and do all those stupid couple and family things like sharing ice cream in the park and waking up together every day for decades and arguing over who does the dishes or takes the trash out… I want what they had.”

**“I’m sure your pirate will be happy to hear it, but I don’t see why you need to share this revelation with me.”**

“Damn it Regina, don’t you get it?! I never wanted any of that with Hook! We broke up because I didn’t want a life with him, didn’t want… _him._ I like my family just the way it is. Henry, and my parents, and you. _You_ , Regina, you’re…”

**“What am I, Miss Swan?”**

“Everything? You’re… You’re the one who understands, the one who sees me not as the Savior or a hero, or your mother or daughter, or some _prize_ to be won, but just as me. You don’t expect me to have all the answers or get everything right, but you still look at me like I matter. You see me as the screwed-up person I am, and most of the time I think you like me anyway. You’re the only one who gets that Henry always comes first, that everything I’ve done since the second I got here has been for him and that nothing will ever matter more than he does. You hate me half the time, but you still look out for me, and I know it’s just for Henry but… sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.”

**“… I don’t hate you.”**

“That’s… that’s good. I don’t hate you either. You make me _feel_ , Regina; every time I start to go numb, or get so afraid I want to take Henry and run, you make me feel. It used to be anger, but now it’s…

“You break through my walls. You can piss me off one minute and make me feel trusted the next, but you always make me _feel_.”

**“It’s not my job to make you feel, Emma. If that’s what you’re looking for you’ve come to the wrong place.”**

“Wha—no! Regina, I… I’m trying to tell you what you mean to me, but why you mean it? That’s… There are a thousand reasons, and it’s not because of what you do for me, it’s because of _you_. Every time you look at Henry, it’s like you pour everything you are into that smile you get; you love him like he’s your earth and your sun and your stars, and he is just so damn _lucky_ Regina, because your love is like nothing anyone has ever felt for me. And the woman who can feel that kind of love? She’s pretty fucking incredible. How could I look at the way you love my kid and not love you a little for it?

“But I’m tired of hiding behind Henry, of pretending everything I feel for you is because of him. You’re _strong_ Regina, stronger than anyone I’ve ever known, and you fight like hell for what you want. You don’t give up or give in, which probably makes us a bad combination cause we both know I’m stubborn as a mule, but I don’t care. I don’t care because you are the person I want to argue with. The way you snip at me… maybe it’s crazy, but it feels like _home_. When we argue over whether Henry can have a milkshake with dinner, or you call me an idiot for screwing up yet another magic lesson, or I can you out on being a bitch and you sass back that you’re _evil_ ,  it feels like family and home. It feels like ice cream on a bench in the park, and the only thing that’s missing…”

**“The only thing that’s missing is your lips against mine.”**


End file.
